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21 stories from Planck Standard. Latest: November 2, 2026.
Curtin University researchers say fossilized red blood cells in a Brazilian theropod are the first to carry direct chemical proof of hemoglobin-derived molecules.
The 60-centimeter Austronaga minuta from southern China preserves the oldest known largely complete digestive system in a reptile, with traces of blood still in its liver.
A 38-foot Tyrannosaurus discovered on a South Dakota ranch shattered its estimate after a 10-minute bidding war — and reignited a fight between collectors and paleontologists.
A rare goose unearthed from an ancient lakebed in Central Otago suggests the country's colossal 18-kilogram geese descended from far more recent arrivals than scientists long assumed.
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An 82-million-year-old tail vertebra collected on James Ross Island in 1985 has been identified as a titanosaur — the first dinosaur bone ever found on the continent.
A newly named microraptor relative, Jian changmaensis, glided on four feathered limbs and may explain piles of crushed bird bones in a 120-million-year-old fossil bed.
The spectacular 1.2-meter fossil discovered on a remote New Zealand cliff has been identified as an ancient tarpon-like predator thanks to the late collector's recovered notebooks.
The 4.2-million-year-old species, dubbed Ambystoma quetzalcoatli after the Aztec feathered-serpent god, is the first fossil salamander ever named from Mexico and the country's oldest known record of the group.
Newly named Jian changmaensis, a barn-owl-sized cousin of Velociraptor, is the first non-bird dinosaur found at a Chinese site that has yielded more than 100 ancient birds — and it appears to have preyed on them.
43-foot marine reptile from Texas fossil reveals brutal predator that dominated prehistoric seas 80 million years ago.
A University of Washington team unearthed a hamster-sized multituberculate that scampered through forests alongside the dinosaurs and may help explain how mammals survived the asteroid extinction.
A forgotten fossil embedded in a retaining wall has been identified as one of Australia's most remarkable prehistoric finds, revealing a fearsome river predator with rare skin preservation.
High-resolution 3D scans identify precise bite marks showing smaller tyrannosaur fed on remains of much larger relative, challenging predator stereotypes.
Powerful synchrotron X-rays uncover preserved blood vessels in 66-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex rib, providing new insights into dinosaur biology and recovery.
A remarkably preserved fossil reveals early snakes were large, wide-mouthed predators rather than tiny burrowers, challenging long-held theories about snake origins.
Crushed skull forgotten in drawer reveals new species that challenges understanding of early dinosaur evolution and mass extinction.
Using synchrotron X-ray CT imaging, scientists from the University of the Witwatersrand proved that Lystrosaurus — Earth's greatest mass extinction survivor — reproduced by laying soft-shelled eggs, answering a question paleontologists have pursued for decades.
Megachelicerax cousteaui, an 8-centimeter Cambrian arthropod from Utah described by Harvard researchers in Nature, pushes chelicerate origins back 20 million years and confirms molecular clock predictions about when arachnid ancestors first appeared.
Researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History discovered bee nest structures built inside the jaw bones of extinct hutias and ground sloth teeth in a Dominican Republic cave — the first known case of bees nesting in fossil cavities.
CT scans reveal hidden skull and stomach stones in first new Korean dinosaur species identified in 15 years.
A new species named Masripithecus moghraensis is the closest known relative to the ancestor of all living apes and humans — and its location in northern Africa suggests scientists have been looking in the wrong region for decades.